The 17 meetups in London that every entrepreneur should attend

Being an entrepreneur—especially a solopreneur—can often feel like a lonely journey. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to take a break, get up from your desk, and join fellow entrepreneurs to learn or socialize. There is a range of entrepreneur-focused meetups in London, which can help you sharpen your skills, learn best practices on growing your business, forge relationships with other entrepreneurs, and even meet potential clients or partners for your business. At the very least, you’ll leave inspired and energized to keep pushing towards success.

Among the hundreds of meetups for entrepreneurs in London, we’ve curated some that are truly worth your time.

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Entrepreneurs in London’s events attract a large and diverse crowd of entrepreneurs. Via Patrick M. Powers

As the largest meetup for entrepreneurs in London, with over 22 thousand members, Entrepreneurs in London offers something for everyone. Whether you’re just getting started with a new business idea or are a seasoned entrepreneur, you can find value in their hands-on workshops, speaker seminars, and networking events. They organize events on a bi-monthly basis, so this can be a staple in your events calendar.

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London Business Show, organized by London Entrepreneurs Network, gives visibility to many high potential startups. Via Alice Alesy

London Entrepreneurs Network also caters to a wide audience, from people who are still in the ideation stage of a new business, to entrepreneurs that are actively looking to scale or finance their companies. Their events—ranging from training and mentorship ones to social networking events, and even including a large-scale business show—cover all business sectors. As a bonus, they give 10 entrepreneurs the opportunity to do an elevator pitch to the crowd before each event. So practice your pitch and go make new business connections!

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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If you’re an early stage startup seeking to sell to enterprises, London Enterprise Technology is a great event to add to your calendar. Their events aim to connect and provide resources to startups, while teaching them how to work with enterprises. Once or twice per quarter, they put together panels with successful entrepreneurs, investors, and experts. In addition to learning and connecting with entrepreneurs, you can also request to present your startup at the event.

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on their website and on Twitter.

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Typically, legal requirements are one of the most intimidating—and frankly, cumbersome—aspects of starting a business. StartEd London is here to help! The meetup acts as an open forum where entrepreneurs can discuss business-relevant legal issues, share their experiences, and increase their knowledge of startup-related law issues. Although this does not replace legal services, it’s a very cost-effective way to get legal guidance on common questions.

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This meetup offers a variety of events for entrepreneurs, but common topics are marketing, psychology, and self-development.

They bring experts to share advice on key “soft” parts of being a business owner, for instance improving time-management and increasing productivity, or understanding the psychology of customer behavior in order to better sell online. If you’re interested in improving your soft skills and gaining confidence in your career, these events are worth checking out!

To get a gist of their past events, check out the recordings on their Youtube channel.

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If you’re in the process of considering a jump into entrepreneurship, London Women Entrepreneurs is a great meetup to find advice and inspiration.

Join the group for their monthly coffee mornings to discuss business plans, or for their talks with successful female entrepreneurs about making the transition from the corporate world into your own company.

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One of the largest communities of women engineers in the world, Women Who Code is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. In London, they host a variety of social and educational events for current and aspiring coders alike.

You can join them for speaker series with tech experts and investors, technical study groups, hackathons, and career and leadership development events. If you’re a woman in tech, this is the community to be part of!

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on their website and Twitter.

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Data Science is one of the hottest careers in tech, and if you’re a woman working in this exciting field, Inspiring Women in Data Science is a great way to grow your skills, increase your confidence, and get inspired.

Although this meetup group is relatively new, they’re a fast-growing community with events for novices and experts alike.

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on Slack and Twitter.

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Given the pace of technological innovation nowadays, keeping abreast of new technology can be a challenging task, but London New Tech is here to help.

The meetup gives a platform for the most exciting new companies to showcase their products each month. This way, new companies can promote their solutions to potential clients and investors, and attendees can learn about the newest trends in tech and interact with some passionate entrepreneurs.

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on Facebook and Twitter.

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Technopreneurs is another great opportunity to socialize with entrepreneurs and exchange experiences in a friendly environment. The events feature startup or investor speakers, who share their startup stories, challenges and solutions, followed by networking.

The goal is to facilitate more connection within the startup community and to offer entrepreneurs the chance to meet like-minded people to chat with and learn from.

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If your number 1 priority with your startup at the moment is to secure financing, Tech City Coffee is a must attend meetup. Their mission is to equip early-stage entrepreneurs with resources and know-how to navigate the competitive investment climate in London.

In addition to educational events, such as pitch deck workshops, the meetup also offers VC events where startups can interact with investors, receive feedback, and start their path towards funding.

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As an entrepreneur, coding skills always help, even if you have a technical cofounder. To start getting your hands dirty, Founders & Coders offers a highly collaborative coding bootcamp, and the best part—it’s free.

In addition to the bootcamp, they also organize events through the meetup group, where anyone is welcome to join, bring their laptop, and participate in peer-led coding activities.

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on Facebook and Twitter.

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If the best way to learn is by doing, the second best way may be to learn from those that have already done it, and done it well. For the latter, Startup Grind is the meetup to attend.

The global startup community, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, hosts fireside chats with some of the most successful local startup CEOs, innovators and investors. Their startup mixers and annual conferences also provide opportunities to connect with inspiring entrepreneurs and find a supportive network.

Besides on meetup, you can also connect with the group on Facebook and Twitter.

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GeekGirlMeetup is a network for women in web design, coding, and startups with the ambition of getting more women onto the stage to share their knowledge. Aimed at elevating female role-models, enriching networks and promoting active exchange of knowledge.

GeekGirlMeetup meets every six weeks in London with the goal of nurturing connection, experience, and inspiration. Join for expertise and advice on how to succeed in tech, design and the startup community. These #womenintech also produce a podcast and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram.

Save the date and meet new people!

So mark your calendars for your favourite meetups from this list. The more the world moves online, the more important and meaningful the connections made in real life are, so take a break from your laptop and attend an event. You’ll surely leave energized, knowing new people, and having learned a new thing or two.

Did we miss your favourite entrepreneur meetup in London? Tell us in the comments!

Any comments?

Hello! It looks like one of the events may have simply been taken down from Meetup. You can likely find more information on social channels — in order to get information on future meetups, join the meetup groups! You can also see past dates of meetups on the right hand side in case that’s helpful at all.

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